Leach pads in mining operations are designed to allow the flow of aqueous solutions through the ore body, interacting with the mineral and could be intercepted as a solution rich in the base of the stack. However, in the current state of the art, the distribution efficiency of irrigation of the aqueous solvent is not optimal, which causes considerable quantities of mineral there not being irrigated.
Dry areas in a heap leach do not contribute to the recovery of mineral; therefore, the not irrigated area is a loss of efficiency of the leach. Furthermore, an area with high humidity or saturated, although enables the mineral watering after excess acid solution consumed and evaporates, the area covered by the pool is sealed and does not absorb more solution, stopping the dissolution process in that area.
Thus, increase recovery and productivity in the leach pad is a vital goal for the mining. However, a major limitation is the variability in the watering process, which depends on several parameters, among which are:                Size of the area without watering and,        Size of puddles of water area or saturated zone        Volume of irrigation, according to the material,        Irrigation temperature,        Failures in irrigation systems.        
Currently, monitoring and control tasks on heap leach are made by human inspectors, because some of these parameters can be assessed by direct observation of the surface of heap leach. However, in these cases different value drawbacks are identified:                The surface of heap leach is partially measured.        There is a risk related to the physical safety of people who must stay a long time on the heap, in an acidic environment.        There is considerable delay in the detection and quantification of faults.        
In this way, the influence of aqueous solvent distribution corresponds to one of the key points for a good recovery of ore. For this reason, it is important to have a system of continued monitoring of the heap, to assist in decision making and help in optimizing the use of resources.
An example of monitoring systems on heap leach is described in the document “Managing Gold Heap Leach in Minera Yanacocha SRL”, which describes the implementation of a geophysical study on the surface of a heap. For that study, electrodes are installed along the area being studied. Then, an electric current is applied, which entering the ground and is detected by a sensor that, using a software, makes a map in two or three dimensions with colorations ranging from purple to red. The purple corresponds to the area in which a higher current flow has been detected and, therefore, has higher moisture; while red color indicates that it a low conductivity has been detected and, therefore, there is low humidity. Thus, from the above mentioned geophysical study, areas with poor irrigation can be detected, and thus a plan and measures to improve irrigation in heap leach can be implemented.
Another way of mineral monitoring is described in the paper “Use of infrared thermography for the evaluation of heat Losses During coal storage”, which discloses a method for determining the total loss coefficient as heat, during coal storage, due a spontaneous self-combustion of the same. The said document discloses the use of infrared thermography, for measuring temperature and behavior of spontaneous combustion in coal stockpiles, through infrared thermal imagers.
Thus, although methodologies which allow to measure inefficient irrigation areas in heap leach can be found in the state of the art, none of the current methods provides a system to take instant actions to improve irrigation in deficient areas, with systems through real-time monitoring and direct control over the irrigation system in order to improve the homogeneity of the same.
Accordingly, it can be noted according to the state of the art, the need for a system and method for monitoring and control heap leach, which allow identifying critical areas, either deficient irrigation or saturated zones so to control the irrigation system to improve the homogeneity of the same.
To overcome the presented drawbacks, a system and method for monitoring and control is proposed, which allows identifying and controlling failures in irrigation of heap leach, such as: puddles of water or saturated areas, dry areas, leaks and lack of uniformity in irrigation of the leach pads. Said system comprises a thermographic vision system and a vision in the visible spectrum system, which are controlled by a guidance system, wherein said thermographic vision and in the visible spectrum systems send information to a processing system, which receives and processes this information to then be displayed on a user interface. The monitoring and control system further comprises a weather system that measures real-time meteorological variables and sends them to the processing system, so that these variables are considered in the processing of information, and further comprising a cleaning system.
In this way, the system can determine, in real time and automatically, the quality and distribution of irrigation of at least one heap leach, subdividing it through modules, and generating a map with the quality of irrigation for all leach modules. The system allows:                Measuring quality day and night and the proper distribution of irrigation heaps for each of the leach modules through the soil moisture measurement, estimated by changing their color and temperature characteristics.        Generating a map which indicates the quality of irrigation for all leach modules.        Establishing an automatic alarm that notifies critical conditions such as: broken hoses in leach modules, excessive or insufficient watering solution on the surface.        Establishing historical of quality trend of irrigation for the heap.        Influencing indirectly in reducing the number of landslides, minimizing losses of the solution and reducing the number of accidents related to people in charge of operating the heap.        Manipulating actuators that enable you to automatically control the distribution of irrigation in critical areas.        
Furthermore, the predictive method assesses the ability of the leaching process and its control limits or thresholds, establishing the measurement scale for each of the variables or deficiencies identified.